During Friday's funeral services for J. Herbert "Herbo'' Humphreys Jr. – whose adventurous life conjures up the spirits of other swashbuckling Memphians like Richard Halliburton and Lucius Burch – Tim Hudson's thoughts may flash back to that glorious late afternoon 28 years ago in the northern Bahamas waters.

"We had been working most the day blowing holes,'' Hudson recalled, referring to a technique used aboard their ship for finding shipwrecks and their treasures.

Attachments placed over the Beacon's propellers shot a forceful column of water down to the sandy, shallow bottom of the Little Bahama Bank. The gush pushed away the sand to expose the bedrock and, hopefully, any shipwreck treasures.

Herbo Humphreys used the Beacon for some of his most successful treasure-hunting trips.(Photo: Humphreys family)

Earlier that day, Humphreys and his crew found some coins strewn by the sinking of the Spanish galleon Mirivallas as it hauled rich cargo to Queen Isabella in 1656. Other than the coins, the crew that day found nothing extraoridnary, said Hudson, who was vice president of Humphrey's Marine Archeology Recovery and Exploration (Marex).

So Humphreys and his men called it a day and swam about 100 yards from the anchored Beacon to their supper: Lobster and fish hanging around a reef.

That's when serendipty struck. "Herbo saw gold glittering on the top of the reef,'' recalled Hudson, who had remained aboard. "When they fanned away the sand they discovered gold bars atop the reef and started looking around the remaining reef and found the other bars.

The Maravillas Cross(Photo: Humphreys family)

"Herbo almost came out of the water, he was so excited... They said he started frantically waving almost like he was in trouble.''

In the days that followed, Humphreys and his Beacon crew continued searching along an epliptical pattern of Maravillas debris when they found the crown jewel, literally.

Besides 15 gold bars, the expedition's prize was the emerald-studded Maravillas Cross that was supposed to eventually hang from the neck of Queen Isabella.

Cybill Shepherd wore the Maravilla Cross on the :"Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' in 1992.(Photo: Humphreys family)

Instead, actress and native Memphian Cybill Shepherd wore the Maravillas Cross in her appearance on Jan. 13, 1992, on "The Tonight Show.''

Humphreys and Shepherd were old friends. He couldn't think of a better way to market the cross for an upcoming auction than to have her wear it on national TV.

In a recording of the segment on YouTube, here's how the segment went:

Almost as soon as Shepherd sits, guest host Jay Leno says: "That is a very impressive cross there... Is there a story that goes with that? It's very pretty.''

Shepherd: "Yes, Actually, an old friend of mine from Memphis, Herbert Humprheys... He’s’s a treasure hunter…So they found this cross.''

Leno: "What do you mean 'They found it'?''

Shepherd: "They found it in the wreck of a ship. The Maravillas. It went down in 1650 I think... This is his cross and he asked me if I wanted to borrow it. I said great. Two guys came with it with big guns.''

Leno: "What would that be worth?"

Shepherd: "It's 66 emeralds and 22 karat gold. A million dollars? There are two big guys over there I have to return it to as soon as I get out of the lights.''

Leno: "It's very impressive.''

So was the life of Humphreys, who died in Memphis Jan. 16 after battling cancer.

His father, Herbert Humphreys, was a successful Memphis industrialist who co-founded Humko Products.

The company had a 95-foot yacht Humko and Herbo grew up in the boating life. But his future may have been inspired by his father's gift of a book about sunken treasures complete with the inscription: "To Herbo, Hope you find $10,000,000.00! Love, Dad''.

Herbo Humphrey's shipwreck-hunting firm Marex found other shipwrecks and treasures, including mint-condition gold coins in the wreckage of the steamer North Carolina that sank in the mid-1880s.

In his early 20s, Humphreys was the principal builder and operator of the Grand Caymanian Holiday Inn in the Cayman Islands. He would eventually sell it and become part owner in the Ritz Carlton that was built in its place.

He was a merchant marine captain, served in the Navy during Vietnam and made no secret of his help to contra rebels fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. He was a diver, a Merchant Marine, a master sea captain, navigator, parachutist. He started the treasure-hunting Marex company in 1983.

Humphreys endured financial setbacks about 15 years ago with a personal and business bankruptcy. But he rebounded and continued treasure hunting.

"I think his greatest legacy was his enthusiasm and adventurous spirit,'' Hudson said. "He never was down. He was never out of it. He was always looking for the next treasure project to get involved in. That was his passion.''

A Celebration of Life Service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3245 Central Avenue.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Baptist Reynolds Hospice House.